


The arduous yet fulfilling challenge also known as parenting

by kamelea



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Drabble Collection, Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Fluff, Romance, kids prompts collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-03-17 08:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18961684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamelea/pseuds/kamelea
Summary: A collection of peraltiago family fics inspired bykids prompts list





	1. the one where Jake learns to trust his daughter (or not)

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to amazing [@feeisamarshmallow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/feeisamarshmallow) for beta-reading and editing <3 (check out her writing - it's great!)  
> This fic is a little birthday present for Adele @b99peraltiago (you can check out her writing [here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kufikiria)), who requested #43 (parties/first time drunk) from [@meepmorpperaltiago](https://archiveofourown.org/users/meepmorpperaltiago) [kids prompts list](https://meepmorpperaltiago.tumblr.com/post/184661592860/after-b99peraltiagos-anon-made-a-typo) some time ago and I hope it brings at least a small smile to your face on your bday :))) (and thank you for letting me borrow the name Anana for this one, you know how much I love it)  
> Happy birthday, Adele!

"That's not fair!"

Jake's heart breaks every time he's a witness to his two precious girls fighting. And since Ana recently got into the rebellious stage of her teen life, it's happening quite often now and Jake hates it. 

"I'm not changing my mind, Ana! You're not going to this party and I don't want to hear any more of it!" Amy's not shouting but her voice is so sharp it could cut. This is the authoritative Amy Santiago-Peralta speaking.

"No one ever invites me to this kind of stuff and do you wanna know why?!" his dear Anana's eyes are full of angry tears now, her cheeks are red and puffy from crying and Jake thinks he's too soft to have this kind of conversation with his kid. "Because guess what - both of my parents are fucking cops! That's why!" 

Well, this is new.

"Anana! Mind your language!" The shock he's feeling is evident in his tone. "If you are not able to maintain a certain level of respect for your mother, this conversation is over. Now." Jake is not the shouting type of parent, so he reprimands his daughter very calmly. And even though the disappointment and look of betrayal on Ana's face almost breaks him, he doesn't give up - there are boundaries that cannot be crossed, and using such hurtful words definitely does so. 

Ana looks him deep in the eyes for a few more seconds before she turns around and runs to her room, closing the door with a loud thump, and making Amy jump. She's still shocked from the turn their conversation took.

"Can you believe it? I feel like I don't recognize her anymore." His wife starts to voice her frustration, caused by their daughter's behavior, but Jake's buried too deep in his thoughts to pay any attention to her rant. 

"I think we're making a mistake, Ames." He stops her mid-sentence.

"What?!" 

And there she is, back to her furious mode. 

"Are you saying what I think you're saying? You think we should let her go to that boy's party? That's ridiculous. What if she drinks herself unconscious? What if she does something stupid?" Suddenly Amy's eyes get wide and there's a look of terror on her face. "What if she does _drugs_?!"

"First of all, Ames, none of this will happen ‘cause we raised her better than this. She's our daughter and we need to learn to trust her. Secondly, at least we know this guy - it's Tommy, for God's sake! You adore him - he aces every year's spelling bee, he does math camps and he helped you recently with your crossword puzzle - he's our daughter's best friend of your dreams! Besides I don't think this kind of guy is gonna organize a crazy party."

"If our daughter is as naive as you, I'm worried even more. You're so easy to fool, Peralta." Jake's a bit taken aback by his wife's insult. "I've known guys like him - they charm you with their knowledge of physics or chemistry fun facts and than bam! There they are - trying to get to your pants!"

"God, who have you been with?" Jake's disgust quickly changes into anger "Who was he? Did he hurt you? Do you need me to teach this guy a lesson?" 

Amy's expression softens a bit at her husband's concern.

"I was twelve years old and all he wanted was a kiss but it was enough to scare me. Tony beat him up. Got suspended for it." 

Jake feels a sudden wave of affection towards Amy's younger brother.

"Good to know. Anyway, I think we can trust Anana with this. She's sixteen and it's true what she said about her peers not inviting her to parties, you know it."

There was an incident few months ago, when a boy from Ana's class got arrested by cops from Amy's precinct and it was Captain Santiago-Peralta herself who had a talk with him about the consequences of possessing drugs. Life has been hell for Ana since.

"Well, it's not her fault that boy was trying to destroy his life."

"True, but it's her who suffers now from it."

There is a moment of silence between them as they stare at each other - Jake knows it's a hard task convincing his wife about something like this, but he is also certain about the rightness of his move. He's not going to back out. And Amy must see the determination in his eyes cause she eventually buys in.

"Fine. But it's your responsibility altogether - if she ends up in a hospital from alcohol poisoning, it'll be you who sits by her bed and worries about her." They are both aware that Amy's bluffing right now - there's no way she'd be able to sit still, if one of her children was suffering. 

"Nothing bad will happen - wanna bet on it?" There's a hint of excitement in Jake's voice at the thought of rivalry.

"Jake, I am not betting on our child's well-being."

"Right, yeah, sorry. Got a bit ahead of myself. That's not good parenting."

Amy shakes her head in an act of resignation.

"I can't believe I'm saying yes to this. It's crazy. I'm so scared." Her voice is quiet as she speaks her fears. Jake has known from the beginning of this argument that Amy's opposition is fueled only by anxiety. But that doesn't change the fact that he believes that this kind of behavior is wrong. They have to trust their soon-to-be-an-adult daughter. No matter how difficult it is for them. And all he can do now is offer his wife some comfort in a hard moment as this one, when it's the first time their child goes to an almost adult-like party. 

So he embraces her, kisses her temple and mutters into her hair soothing words.

"Anana will be fine. It's completely natural for you to be worried, but she'll be fine. She's a smart girl."

 

***

 

Five days after that conversation, Jake thinks he couldn't be more wrong as he watches his daughter puking into their neighbours bushes. 

He made a deal with Ana, that she can go to the party but he'll pick her up at exactly 1 am and the moment she got into the car he knew she was totally drunk. It was Tommy who helped her out of the house and Jake should be probably thankful for it but instead of showing him his gratitude, he gave him a stern look of disappointment. The boy paled at the view and muttered quietly _"Sorry, Mr. Peralta"_ before running back to his house.

And now Jake finds himself standing behind his precious offspring, who is pouring the contents of her stomach out of herself, with a hurtful expression on his face. There are so many emotions bustling inside of him - there's anger of course, a bit of disappointment - there's no point it denying it - but mostly worry and compassion, because his kid is in pain. There is no need for him to hold back her hair - she has it tied up in a bun, that reminds him so much of her mother. So he just stands there feeling a bit weird. 

She finally finishes throwing up and he squats beside her.

"Better?" he pats her shoulder awkwardly. He's taken care of many people who suffered from too much drinking but it's a whole different experience when it's his kid.

"I'm so sorry, dad. I know it was you who convinced mum and now I've disappointed you." 

"Not gonna argue with that. But we're gonna talk about it in the morning, Ana." 

The absence of his pet name for her doesn't get unnoticed as a quiet sob escapes her mouth.

"I'm really sorry. I'm so stupid."

"Hey, don't call my daughter stupid!" He cracks a smile in attempt to cheer her up a little, and strokes her hair. He can't stand her seeing sad, she's his precious little girl. "You're young, not stupid. And this -" he points at the vomit in front of them "- this is just a mistake. A mistake that you're gonna learn from, right?" she nods biddably. "Come on, let's go home before your mum gets suspicious." He makes an attempt to stand up but Ana's tuck on his jacket stops him.

"I love you, dad."

"I love you too, Ananas." he plants a kiss on her forehead and offers her a hand to help her stand up.

They sneak into the house without waking Amy up, and Jake thinks it's one of his greatest achievements as a father.

 

***

 

"Babe, why is our daughter up so early after a party _and_ mowing the lawn?" 

Jake's making coffee in the kitchen when he hears his wife's sleepy voice. He turns around to greet her with a quick kiss on her cheek and smiles at the sight in front of him. Amy looks beautiful as always, even though she's wearing not very fancy plaid pajamas and a silk robe on top. Her hair is already combed regardless her waking up just minutes ago.

And she's right - it is very early in the morning, Ana doesn't get up this early even on week days, not to mention the weekend.

"Well since I'm not allowed to spill anything regarding last night's events, all I'm gonna say, is that what you see is me enforcing some good old days discipline."

There is now a playful smirk on Amy's face as she approaches her husband with a glint in her eyes.

"So, you're saying this is some sort of punishment for Ana?"

"That's one way to put it. I spend most of the night thinking what would be a perfect lesson for her and I came up with the best idea. The effect of consuming too much alcohol is a penalty itself. All I have to do is to make sure she remembers this hangover." 

Yes, he has a whole list of chores for his little Anana to do and mowing the lawn at 7.30 on Saturday morning is one of the most pleasurable ones. 

He watches their daughter from the coziness of their kitchen, as she dutifully performs the task he gave her and he's not able to fight the proud smirk that creeps it's way on his face. He shouldn't be so smug about this, right?

But his ego is stroked even more when Amy speaks, hugging him from behind and kissing his neck.

"Mmm you're such a brilliant dad, I think it turns me on a little." She almost purrs into his shoulder blade, making him beam. 

"So, you're saying you have a thing for dads?" He chuckles before turning around to face her and his hands immediately find their way to her waist. 

"Nah, just the father of my children."

And that's it for Jake, he can no longer hold back as he dips in for a kiss. His wife responds very eagerly to his actions and it surprises him a bit even though it shouldn't. His hands slide beneath the top of her pajamas and he starts caressing her back with his palms, knowing how much she enjoys it. It's a completely innocent touch but it earns him a moan from Amy nonetheless. 

After a moment of hot kisses, hectic touches and whimpering sounds it's Amy who eventually comes to her senses even if just for a second.

"Atlas is still asleep and Ana is gonna be busy for at least half an hour or so. You're thinking what I'm thinking?" There is a radiant smile on her pretty face, her cheeks are pink, eyes are shining and there is no way Jake could ever say no to _her_. 

"Definitely."

And so he dutifully follows his wife to their bedroom.

 

(Next time Jake picks Anana up after a party, he still can tell she's tipsy but she hides it really well. What she can't hide though is a big hickey on her neck and this time it's Amy who has to calm him down when they have another _difficult_ conversation with their daughter the next morning.)


	2. the one where Jake gets a warrant that Pilsners are boring indeed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #34. Hobbies. Requested by anonymous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you @ydididodis for beta-reading and your words of encouragement :) <3
> 
> Special thanks go to @rosalitadiazz and @Fielding for being my information source on this one <333

“Isn’t it weird our 17-year-old son is spending his Saturday with his Nana?”

Jake asks his wife one day, getting suspicions after few weeks of Atlas staying all afternoons at Karen’s on work days (Amy responds that she finds it endearing, and hopes her own future grandchildren spend so much time with her when they’re teenagers). Jake’s totally aware of his son’s special bond with his Mum and is very grateful for it but still, call it 6th sense or work-related bias after so many years being a cop, he can’t help but feel something is off.

Sure, Atlas and Karen’s bond is truly special, especially given the fact that he’s a teenager and kids his age are not mostly known for spending an awful lot of their afternoons with their Nana. But they have just so much in common, Karen being the only competent person supporting his love for cooking and helping him with developing his skills making with him all kinds of weird foods only Uncle Charles seems to enjoy.

(At a very early stage of his life it turned out cooking is Atlas’ passion and since his parents aren’t very talented in that area, it was Jake’s mum who’s helped Atlas to discover his skills. As he grew older, he started making more sophisticated dishes, he learned to bake and make all sorts of pickled vegetables. He even made some jams one summer and the amount of jars full of sweet substance was so enormous, the whole family still has their pantry packed with it, even after a giveaway to the whole Nine-Nine squad). And his Nana was there throughout it all - such victories as the first batch of well-done pierogis for Mother’s Day one year, or a 5-level birthday cake for Jake. But she was there for the failures as well, like when a whole box with jars of pickled beetroots gone bad and Atlas, being a sensitive boy, cried all afternoon because of it.)

Eventually, Jake convinces his wife to visit Karen later that day. “What do you say we pay my mum a surprise visit this afternoon?” To which suggestion she agrees eagerly, realizing Karen might appreciate them doing groceries for her.

 

Jake knows he’s been right seeing the unpleasant surprise on his Mum’s face the moment she opens the door, seeing him at her porch with bags in his hands. 

“Jake?” Karen’s bewilderment, showing in her eyes being wide, is priceless. 

Busted.

“Hello Karen!” a muffled shout comes from his car, where Amy is picking up the rest of the groceries they got for her. Conspiracy visit or not, his mum still is an old lady, who needs help with basic chores (even though she has a hard time admitting it).

Jake gives his - still a bit in shock - mum a quick kiss on the cheek and heads straight to the kitchen, for one to leave the bags there and for two to get over with this mission on catching his son red-handed as soon as possible. 

The problem is, the kitchen is empty.

“Amy, my love, Jake - would you like a cup of coffee? And cake?”

“Oh, yes please!” his wife obliviousness of the situation really taking place (Karen trying to distract him from finding his son) is annoying, but Jake couldn’t clue Amy in, because she’d call him obsessive and would made an awful lot fun of him.

“Mum, where’s Atlas?”

He goes past her, ignoring her attempts to distract him from going further the hallway (while Amy’s still blissfully unaware of her husband and mother-in-law’s game, cheerfully asking about Karen’s wellbeing).

There’s no sign of Atlas all over Jake’s childhood’s house so the only place left for Sergeant Peralta to look for is the garage. And that’s where he finds his one and only son doing a thing he would never accuse him of, startling Jake and filling his heart with horror, simultaneously shattering it to pieces.

HIS SON IS BREWING BEER.

For a moment Jake thinks he’s having a heart attack, his legs suddenly too weak to hold him and Amy seeing him in that state rushes to his side and only then she notices the source of her husband’s sudden deterioration. There is a million thoughts going through her mind but there is one that is especially loud _‘HE’S UNDERAGE, HE’S NOT SUPPOSED TO DRINK ALCOHOL NOT TO MENTION MAKING IT’_ but also a quiet one _‘How did my son turn into my boring ex-boyfriend?’_

She orders her son to go straight to the car and as Jake starts to feel better they all go home in a suffocating silence. Jake feels heartbroken seeing that his son shares a passion with his wife’s ex-boyfriend (especially when only last month Atlas confessed to him that _“only the first Die Hard movie is good, Dad”_ ) and doesn’t utter one word even when his wife makes a long and loud lecture to their son once they arrive at Santiago-Peralta household. In the spur of the moment she bans Atlas from making any more alcohol which results in Atlas shutting himself in his room for the rest of the evening.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Santiago-Peralta spend the rest of the day questioning all their parenting choices, wondering when did they put him on this road to being a boring person. Especially Jake can’t see a moment when everything went wrong - his son has made so many explicit “Title of your sex tape” jokes ever since he was 13, he and Ana team up every year for a Halloween Heist, not failing to fool their old parents for 3 years straight now and they go together to the waterpark every year (just the two of them, some quality father-son time) -in Jake’s eyes Atlas is the most fun person he knows (but don’t tell Amy that). 

Their self-pity party gets interrupted by their 22-year-old daughter Ana, who enters demanding answers as to why everyone is acting so weird today. After telling her the whole story of the staggering discovery at Nana’s, she tells them how Atlas has been afraid to tell them about his new hobby for the longest time, knowing of their weird prejudice towards beers that are not Blue Moon (or Corona if they feel fancy). 

(Actually it was Ana herself, gutted by her parents taste in beers, who convinced them shortly after her 21st birthday - discovering there is more to adult alcohol-drinking-life than the cheapest beers in her parents’ fridge - to switch to Dos Equis (her personal favourite), so that the policy of ‘not drinking anything that doesn’t taste like piss’ is no longer on the table. Their resentment towards trying anything new beer-related was obvious and weird to their kids even.)

Ana’s revelation actually makes them even more sad - to know their son kept a secret from them, being anxious of their reaction feels like a true parenting failure for the Santiago-Peralta couple. Sure, their interaction with Teddy has been traumatic for the both of them, the memory of it still giving Amy a Pilsner-TSD. But they see now so clearly it should have never influenced their behaviour towards their son. 

“He has foreseen you might react this way so he decided to keep his mouth shut. And Nana was his partner in crime because she’s just the best, obviously.” 

And they reacted in the worst way possible. Especially Amy seems to have huge regrets regarding her outburst.

She has tears in her eyes, cursing herself for being so harsh before, and she’s overcome with the strongest urge to just hug her son and never let go (well she has this urge constantly from the second he was born but sometimes this need gets just unbearable just like in this moment) so she sprints to his room, apologizing and hugging him until he’s all abashed from the sudden affection coming from his mother ( _“It’s okay Mum, I’m not even angry anymore. Could you let go, I can’t feel the half of my body, you’re crushing me.”_ ). 

“We owe you an apology, Atlas. We should have trusted you with this instead of being so close-minded when it comes to beer.” Once Amy finally lets her son breath again, loosening her grip on him, Jake takes a seat next to him.

“Where is your animosity towards beer coming from anyway?” Their son’s question catches them off guard and there’s no way for them to hide it, as they start to mumble incoherent excuses.

“It’s... just that at one point your Mum was really sick of it.”

“Title of your sex tape, Dad!” 

After Jake high-fives his son and his wife rolls her eyes with a fond smile forming on her lips, they make a promise to Atlas to never ever react that way to anything happening in his life and he assures them he will not drink his own beer (Jake doesn’t believe this promise for a second but Amy seems to be satisfied with his answer). As Amy makes a move to leave, Jake stalls, almost insecure and tries to make an attempt to fix what once was an unbreakable bond with his son (before he stabbed his back with the Die Hard confession and start this new “a-lot-like-Teddy” hobby) asking him about his new interest.

(Of course he’s being overly dramatic - such a silly thing would never jeopardize his relationship with Atlas. Still, Jake can’t help but feel a bit left out, jealous even, of not sharing Teddy’s knowledge of beers so that he can impress his son and engage in this new passion of his.)

“So, what is it you’re brewing there, buddy? Some good ol’ pilsners?” Jake’s knowledge about beers is really limited and he has never even tried expanding it, what he mildly regrets right now.

“Pilsners, Dad? Really? Who do you think I am? Some old, boring Czech guy? Pilsners are like the worst type of beers! There’s nothing fun about them. They’re BORING. I brew Ales and sometime Weizenbiers but NEVER Pilsners!” 

His son is so indignant and almost offended Jake would think he has anything to do with THE MOST BORING type of beer his heart warms and he becomes overwhelmed with a wave of affection towards his son, resulting in him grabbing Atlas' round face in his palms and planting a very manly kiss on his forehead. They spend most of Sunday talking about Atlas’ new hobby (Jake actually learning a lot of new and surprisingly interesting facts about beer brewing).

 

(Jake’s the first person honored to taste the first sip of next batch of Atlas’ beer and is pleasantly surprised finding out he actually likes it. When he pats his son on the back, showing his appreciation, a giant beam appears on Atlas’ face, the one, as Amy says, that makes him look exactly like his father.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Look, @rosalitadiaz - Ana shares your taste in beers! :D)
> 
> Not so sure about this one, but I really loved the idea so... here it is lol. I'd really appreciate any feedback on this one bc it's a bit different from the way that I usually write so I'd love to hear what you think :) kudos and comments feed my soul <3
> 
> come and say hi to me on tumblr, I'm @kamekamelea

**Author's Note:**

> I had so much fun writing this, hope it was also fun to read :D  
> Kudos and comments brighten my days, so feel free to leave some :D  
> you can also find me on tumblr - it's @kamekamelea :)


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